Sheriff urges help for those who need it after domestic dispute leads to murder-suicide in Santa Rosa County

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. (WALA) -It’s a heartbreaking scene from over the weekend in Garcon Point. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to Adrian Way just after 8:00 Sunday Night for a shooting. Sheriff Bob Johnson said this wasn’t their first time responding to the house.

“Once in 2015 and once in 2022,” said Sheriff Bob Johnson. “Both were classified as verbal only disputes so there was no arrest made.”

This time was much different. The police report says the husband, 41-year-old Michael Delmar, busted the door into a room and started choking his wife, 42-year-old Katie Delmar, while holding a gun in his hand. The report goes on to say he dragged her into the living room and shot her multiple times. The report says three children ran outside when the shooting happened.

“An off-duty Okaloosa County Sheriff Deputy further stated he had a child at his house with a gunshot wound,” added Sheriff Johnson.

Investigators say they evacuated the neighborhood for about an hour before going inside the house and finding both Michael and Katie dead from a murder-suicide. Something Sheriff Johnson says is another tragic reminder of domestic violence.

“We respond to a lot of domestic violence calls. We try to break the cycle as best we can sometimes, we can sometimes we cannot,” said Sheriff Johnson. “Unfortunately, when we cannot break the cycle sometimes this occurs towards the end of that cycle.”

Sheriff Johnson says incidents like these take a toll on families, neighbors and the officers who have to respond to these calls. And he has a message for anyone who may need help but is afraid to get started.

“Think of the endgame,” said Sheriff Johnson. “If you get hurt or you get beat up that’s bad enough but if you don’t break the cycle things like this happen. It’s your life, it’s your kids’ lives, it’s your family life.”

The sheriff says the child who was shot was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and has since been released and put in the care of family members along with their two siblings.

If you or anyone you know is being affected by domestic violence you can reach out to the Santa Rosa Counseling Center at 850-626-7779 or Favor House Northwest Florida at 850-626-5600. You can also reach out to the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.